Last week the Bougainville Government announced an agreement had been reach with Panguna landowners to re-open the island's controversial Gold and Copper mine.
Once the backbone of the Papua New Guinea economy, Panguna has been idle since the civil war began more than 30 years ago - a war the mine was at least partly responsible for.
But now the leaders of the five major clans in the Panguna area - Basikang, Kurabang, Bakoringu, Barapang and Mantaa, have said they will allow the mine to re-open.
Don Wiseman asked Island Business's specialist writer on PNG, Kevin McQuillan, about the significance of the decision.
Gold panning on the fringe of Bougainville's Panguna mine, decades after it was closed for large scale mining. Photo: Johnny Blades / RNZ Pacific
